Recent Comments

Newsweek’s Eve Conant, who has been tracking NOM for some time, just published a lengthy piece on the story of Louis’ conversion, including the story of what happened while he sat on a bench in St. Louis with Anthony, and a quote from Louis’ mom:

The young Republican’s turnabout began last summer, when he was on the road with NOM after taking a break from teaching English in Russia. Marinelli, the product of a difficult divorce, had been running an anti-gay marriage Facebook site that he says funneled donations to NOM and had, in the spring of 2010, contracted with the group to help with a summer bus tour and online outreach.
“I started to see that they were not just political targets, they were real people who just… wanted to get married. It started to feel like a petty issue.”

The tour was meant to drum up support for traditional marriage, but at every step NOM workers and supporters were followed by pro-gay activists. The Courage Campaign, a progressive alliance based in California, sent out field director Arisha Hatch and cameraman Anthony Ash to cover the events, often conducting quick and terse interviews with NOM leaders and supporters, including Marinelli.
Marinelli says he just wanted to hold on to a lifestyle he held dear. He was an altar boy who briefly attended Catholic school, and as an adult he was determined to protect traditional values. “I saw gay marriage as just another liberal iconoclastic attack on traditional culture,” he said.

His mother, Karen Clark, said she’s surprised at his change, but not the reasons behind it: “I knew he wasn’t against gay people, he just really supports traditional marriage.” He’s the kind of man, she says “who wants only a Tiffany ring for his fiancée once he gets engaged.”

While on the NOM tour in Atlanta, Marinelli recalled looking out at a crowd of some 300 counterprotesters supporting gay marriage, and it floored him. “I started to wonder—what was I doing here?” he said. “That’s the point when I first started to question myself.”
But he kept on toeing the NOM line. During the tour, he helped with logistics, driving, sound checks, advertising, and Internet promotion, tweeting about the immorality of gays.
In early August he said he sat on a park bench in St. Louis with cameraman Ash, a 29-year-old gay man who asked him questions on camera, resulting in a typically cold interview—until Ash turned off the camera.

“I asked Louis, ‘Can we just be real for a minute’?” said Ash, who was devoting his summer to tracking NOM’s every move. He said Marinelli asked him why Ash had covered his ID badge one day when Marinelli took a photo of it. “I told him it was out of safety, that one NOM supporter had said the solution to gay marriage was lynching, and I was looking out for myself.” (Ash said he was punched and his camera damaged during a subsequent NOM tour.) They talked briefly about their lives, and Ash told Marinelli he had a family whom he had left for the summer to fight NOM. He said he also did drag. “He laughed. You could tell he was uncomfortable, it was kind of overload for him, but he laughed,” said Ash.

That conversation had a lasting impact, said Marinelli. “I realized he was someone I could talk to, not someone I wanted to go after anymore,” he said. “Anthony helped change me because I finally saw someone personally affected by what I was doing.”

Marinelli paused. “I started to see that they were not just political targets, they were real people who just… wanted to get married. It started to feel like a petty issue.”

The power of personal, one-on-one, Courageous conversations. A story we can use with family, friends and colleagues.

On a side topic, I ABHOR what "The Daily Beast" is doing to Newsweek. The magazine format is awful (the last "new" format I thought was clear, concise, and simple-it's now a mishmash of cluttered crap). The site is reformatted, too, and looks dumbed down.

What I dislike the most is the cross branding with The Daily Beast in the magazine. It's just awful!!!

Punctuation nitpick here, folks. The possessive of "Louis" is not Louis' but Louis's. The possessive apostrophe after the letter S is used when it follows more than one person/item and includes the second S. Drop the second S only if it's a group (or more than one). Example, using the Jones family of several: "the Jones' rainbow flag" as opposed to "Louis's conversion."

Since we're clearly and happily going to have many opportunities to use Louis's name in this manner, it is going to drive me crazy if this error persists.

The true win for marriage equality in Louis's change of heart is that the mainstream media has picked up on it. Coverage in the LGBT media is 'preaching to the choir'. Don't know how many people will read and absorb the Newsweek piece, but it will reach people who might change their minds as well.

It is in my world. I'm basically non-evangelical, too, but I knew this one would drive me up the wall over time so had to speak up. (It had already started my climb up said wall….) Well, I have been known to correct signs whenever I can …… stealth Sharpie attack. I just wish I could reach all the ones at the stores with the "10 items or less FEWER" signs at the checkout counter.

Yep – nothing new so far. Also, is it just me or does it look like she just got out of bed?

22. Kerri | April 15, 2011 at 12:36 am

I like the part where she says " He’s the kind of man, she says “who wants only a Tiffany ring for his fiancée once he gets engaged.”

Well … honey I got news for you … I only wanted a Tiffany ring for my beloved wife too! … and she has it on her finger!

23. Sagesse | April 15, 2011 at 12:36 am

All the witnesses are anti-equality?!!

24. Ed | April 15, 2011 at 12:37 am

I was thinking that as well. I was taught, if you are about to go on a job interview, that you are supposed to dress up as best you can, make yourself as presentable as possible…..But, that's for a job interview…..this is merely talking before Congress, nothing similar…..

I like this interview too,,, and it further answers Straight Grandmothers questions on another thread, about the best way to protest.

Both in this interview and the one with Newsweek, Louis says it was seeing the numbers of protestors in Atlanta, and goes further to say, there was something different about the protestorsin Atlanta than other places on the tour,,,,

The way they engaged was inspiring , and the first thing that changed him,,, he saw them smiling holding hands, and singing ,,,,

I also remember that rally and how the nature of the protest and those people marching and singing brought many of us to tears……

It was that sight and experience that first opened him to a new level of awareness about what he was doing….

Followed by conversations and intimate ineractions,,,,,,,,thanks to Courage Campaign's Arisha, Anthony ,,,,,

Thanks Louis,,,, for your inspiration and suggestions,, especial your encouragement to keep on doing these things to change other hearts and minds,,,,,,

You, are for many of us the victory we were so looking for ,,,, always wondering when we would make main stream news,,, you're able to do that for us now,, thanks and keep telling your story…..

44. Gregory in Salt Lake | April 15, 2011 at 1:46 am

thank you all for not pointing out my various punctuation errors. I can appreciate the love of language as have a daughter and hubby who share that passion. (hubby helps me proof-read important documents)

Subscribing. I have a photo shoot I need to monitor today. Looking at old objects and artifacts with some historians and a photographer will be on hand to capture as many pictures of the items as possible. Lots of coordinating, too little time.

At first I started getting annoyed at all the Louis stories (This is essentially a repeat of the same story we already know) but at this point, it's very important that people are aware that they can make a difference, and hearts and minds can change. Remember that when deciding whether or not to call up your congressman about this issue.

66. Carpool Cookie | April 15, 2011 at 4:29 am

I thought Strunk & White said either way was okay, but preferred it without the extra S…as the whole leaning of that book is to simplify, simplify, simplify.

Yes, LLB! That's another of mine. And "historical" vs. "historic." I always thought it would be fun to run an online dating ad whose heading asked for responses only from those (lesbians, in my case) who know the difference. Would narrow things down fast! (I also thought a good heading for another ad would be "Yakima or Thule?")

72. Carpool Cookie | April 15, 2011 at 4:40 am

Wait….I WAS WRONG (again!!) Strunk & White says:

——————————————————————

Form the possessive singular of nouns with 's.
Follow this rule whatever the final consonant. Thus write,

Charles's friend
Burns's poems
the witch's malice

This is the usage of the United States Government Printing Office and of the Oxford University Press.

Exceptions are the possessives of ancient proper names in -es and -is, the possessive Jesus', and such forms as for conscience' sake, for righteousness' sake. But such forms as Achilles' heel, Moses' laws, Isis' temple are commonly replaced by

the heel of Achilles
the laws of Moses
the temple of Isis

The pronominal possessives hers, its, theirs, yours, and oneself have no apostrophe.

————————————————————–

I will say that regardless (irregardless?) (irrigated??) I always like the way it looks without the extra S….but I aknowledge it is A CHOICE….I wasn't born that way.

Oh — and we are just by chance managing to be having this discussion on the anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, which EVERY DAMN YEAR is mentioned on the news by saying that it sank on its "first voyage." Wrong wrong wrong. It sank on its ONLY voyage.

76. Phillip R | April 15, 2011 at 5:08 am

Yea, I think it's getting a bit old. I think it's excellent that he swapped and it does show that people can be moved. On the same token, I think idolizing someone who obviously damaged the cause is a bit overboard.

77. Nyx | April 15, 2011 at 5:26 am

Kate, I’m guessing you’re one of those people that believe the word “whom” is not part of some ancient dead language? 😉

As Cookie pointed out, Strunk and White agree with Kate, though my understanding is that many modern style guides (especially for internet publications) tend to streamline this visually clunky usage. It's interesting that "Jesus" is an exception. I wonder what the reasoning behind that was.

But as the excerpt James posted from "Eats, Shoots, and Leaves" posits, in place and brand names we often conform to local "whim." Therefore, maybe we should ask Louis if he wishes to be apostrophized with the extra "s."

It was very interesting. There was an old broken plate with a beautiful image of the Victorian Cliff House, 3 Sutro Baths bathing suits, some old souvenir spoons (one as old as 1894). I then took the photographer out to Sutro Heights to take some pictures of a statue of Diana the Huntress. I didn't want to leave because the weather was perfect. I was standing at the edge of the continent and didn't want to move.

So sorry, Alan; I don't. I'm sure my father took photos every time we went, but they don't exist in my life. I loved all the toothpick Ferris wheels made by the convicts at San Quentin. That was one crazy museum.

And I have to say it, but it's hard from me to see the bigots as people sometimes. You'll sit there and try to deny me rights and expect me not to call you a bigot? Sorry.

But then I realize, a lot of the people who oppose equality, when you sit and talk to them, they come around a little bit.

They understand that they're on the wrong side of the issue once they see we're not the demons they were warned about.

Of course I am the mischievous sort, who likes to needle them a bit, like calling NOM and asking when the rest of them are going to come around and support marriage equality.

102. Dave P | April 15, 2011 at 2:21 pm

The author, John Amaechi, is a remarkably articulate and intelligent man. I've seen a couple of his interviews and he always has some important things to say, and he says them very well. I wish the general public would hear a lot more of what he has to say.

103. Dave P | April 15, 2011 at 2:31 pm

….. Just to bring things back to the original topic of this post…..

This has been one helluva week.

Last week, if you had told me that one of the main participants in the NOM tour would declare his support for marriage equality, and then follow it up with some pretty impressive actions, and that the story would be picked up by MSNBC and then Newsweek….. I certainly never would have believed it could be possible.

This is all very very good news. Interesting times indeed!

104. Ed Cortes | April 15, 2011 at 11:40 pm

Remember the Tucker car? oops – the museum burned about 54 years ago – how could I POSSIBLE remember that hehe There are probably pics online if you google…

I look forward to the day when Newsweek or Time magazine does a cover story on the Evolution of Hate with Maggie & Tony Perkin's faces plastered on the cover for the whole world to see, with indepth investigative reporting on their organizations, complete backgrounds, salaries, tax filings, donors, consultant fees and the absurd lies in their hearing testimonies, verbatim, exposed and refuted.

108. Tigger | April 16, 2011 at 3:27 am

Truly, the courage that it took to step into the light/love and reject the dark side's fear based propaganda is not to be underestimated. Because we all know from our very own Indigo Girls that "darkness has a hunger that's insatiable and lightness has a call that's hard to hear.."

The real life and down to earth reasons Louis presented for his change of heart were presented so effectively and with compassion and were logical and even quite Christ like.

Thanks again Louis for having the courage and wisdom to do what's right. One Love!

I believe Brown and Gallagher will come round one day (like Cheney & Olson etc..)…as soon as they get to know us and see that we are on the same team..team human…and let go of the disdain and condescension that drive their machine.